Prayers for Jim Treacher; Update: State Dept, not Secret Service

Ed MorrisseyPosted at 10:00 am on February 4, 2010

Jim’s a great friend to Hot Air and conservatives everywhere, and in his new gig at the Daily Caller, has a good stage for his biting humor and political insight. We may have to wait a while for Jim to regale us as he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident last night. Jim’s knee is broken and remains hospitalized, as Jim himself reports from his bed:

Sometime between 7 and 7:30, not long after I got home from work, I walked to the CVS on 22nd and M to get some bread, milk, and a SmartTrip card. I was right across the street from the CVS, and I waited for the crosswalk light to tell me to go before I crossed. I had plenty of time left, according to the countdown clock. I was more than halfway there when a black SUV made an illegal left turn and hit me head-on. I absolutely had the right of way. I yelled something like, “Are you really doing this?” as it hit me before I could move. I landed on my face on the street and smashed my glasses and scraped my hand and immediately I knew something was wrong with my left knee. I lay there screaming and cursing for I don’t know how long, and a crowd of people gathered and told me to hold still.

According to some witnesses, including apparently the DC police, the SUV may have belonged to the Secret Service:

One last thing: I’m told by multiple people that the SUV that hit me was Secret Service. If this is true, I want to know why that happened. I was crossing legally, and they just left me there. At the very least, I want an apology. What happened to me was wrong.

Any hit and run is illegal, and serious injury moves it up to a felony in most jurisdictions. The police will have to investigate to see who owned the vehicle, and Jim may get his apology — and the driver a big legal bill and possibly some jail time. Hopefully, we’ll get a better picture of who hit Jim and why in the very near future.

In the meantime, our prayers for a speedy recovery go out to Jim.

Update: I misread Jim’s post the first time through; he’s no longer in the hospital. However, the police added insult to injury by issuing Jim a citation for jaywalking, which Tucker Carlson tells me is “completely false and made up.” Tucker also talked to the driver today, who refused to discuss his employer. Keep an eye on the Daily Caller — this story has gotten stranger and may get stranger still.

Update II: The Daily Caller reports that the SUV was driven by an employee in the State Department’s security apparatus, and not by the Secret Service, as had been suggested at first by The DC.